One Hundred Words to Define Us
by Steely Charm
Summary: One Hundred Word paragraphs, inspired by prompts, each a different moment in Remus and Sirius' life, with a heavy focus on the Marauder's school years. A little bit funny, a little bit sad, definite slash. Give it a shot! Rated T only for mild drunken behaviour, some kissing.
1. Letters

He had kept their letters as he had kept everything else. They had always sent them. There was something very freeing about put quill to parchment and just letting go, just allowing your thoughts to pour out without fear or embarrassment; it was magic to convey exactly how they felt without stuttering or mixing up their meanings. Their letters, over the years, had become innumerable. Notes, lines, paragraphs, pages… they were cherished beyond doubt. When Remus became his worst, he would read Sirius' beautiful script, and he would briefly allow himself to believe it would be alright again, one day.


	2. Define

"Marauders, the lot of you! I'll swear…!"  
"Remus, define 'marauder'," Sirius whispered.  
"Marauder: to rove around carrying out violent attacks; a raider, looter, prowler, intruder," Remus answered immediately. He blushed under Sirius' gaze, but Sirius was merely thoughtful.  
XXX  
"I've decided on a new name for us," Sirius announced.  
"You have, have you? What, exactly, was wrong with 'Godric's Troublemaker's'?"  
"Please. You weren't actually serious about that, were you, Jamsie?"  
"You're Sirius, not me," huffed James, defensively.  
"How about," Sirius paused for dramatic effect, eyeing his four friends in turn.  
"'Marauders'." Only silence met his exclamation.  
"Well?"  
"Genius." Sirius beamed.


	3. Dangerous

"It's too dangerous! No, you can't!"  
"Yes, Remus, we can." With that, Sirius disappeared in a whirl of robes. In his place stood a shaggy dog with a rich black coat and wagging tail.  
"What? I don't- Sirius? Where did he go? James, where'd Sirius go?"  
"I'm right here, Moony!" Remus gave a shout of surprise. His friends laughed with mad giddiness.  
"What…?" Remus was shaking violently. Sirius took pity and went and knelt in front of him.  
"We can come with you, Remus. We can, because we, James and Peter included, have become animagi."


	4. Blabber

"Blah di-blah-di-blah-di-blah. Merlin, Lupin, why do you have to be such a goody-two-shoes?" Sirius snarled. James yanked on his best friend's arm.  
"Hurry up! We have to go now, or else we'll never get out!" Peter Pettigrew silently moved to follow a hasty James out of their dormitory. It was suddenly Sirius and Remus alone, Sirius looking at the other first year in undeniable disgust.  
"If you blabber on us, Loopy Lupin, pity better help you…" Sirius glared, then turned and sauntered out of the room without looking back. Remus sank down onto his bed, and tried not to cry.


	5. Campfire

The campfire crackled. Sirius tended to it, lost in his own melancholy thoughts. Remus watched him from his perch on a log. Peter had decided it would be good for the two to spend the night together, alone, doing something fun and different. Not a word had passed between Sirius' lips for more than an hour, and Remus was tongue tied, unable to sort his thoughts out and resolve their abundance of issues. In the end, it was Sirius who plonked down beside Remus, and took his hand. It was Sirius who apologised first and said 'I love you' second.


	6. Keep Calm and Love Me

"'Keep calm and love me?!' KEEP CALM AND LOVE ME? THAT'S ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME?"  
"No. Please, Remus! You are supposed to be the cool one, the one who never loses their head!"  
"Keep calm and love me?" Remus' voice is suddenly terrifyingly small and fragile.  
"Because I am amazingly lovable." Sirius tilts his head to the side and peers at Remus with big, worried eyes. Remus deflates, his shoulders crumpling inwards. Sirius catches him to his chest.  
"Keep calm and love me. Isn't that some muggle line?" Remus whispers, his words muffled. Sirius grins.


	7. Hello

Hello :)

I'm glad you found One Hundred Words!

I know this has been done before, but it is too much fun for me to give up.

These different moments in Remus and Sirius' lives are inspired by prompts (the chapter title). Some of these prompts come from in the 'One Hundred Words Exact' challenge; others come from people who send in their prompt ideas.

I would love to know any prompt ideas you may have (whatever tickles you're fancy)!

Also, these snapshots aren't in order. They range from the Marauders years to Deathly Halllows.

Read, review & enjoy!


	8. Tick, Tock

Tick, tock. Time is passing. Too quickly, not fast enough. Tick, tock. The Gryffindor Common Room empties around him bit by tortuous bit. Sirius and James and Peter have all gone to bed. They had yawned exhaustedly and tried to persuade him to come with and leave his books behind; he had claimed five more minutes. That had been twenty minutes ago, but no one had come for him. Tick, tock. Time to go. His movements were heavy; Remus was already feeling nauseous. The school was quiet, his footsteps were loud. Madame Pomfrey was ahead, keeping her distance. Tick, tock.


	9. More Than Just an Option

Remus grew still in his arms. Sirius' heart froze.  
"Moony? What's wrong? Don't you want this?" The words were wrenched from Sirius' throat; he loosened his grip on Remus' soft hair and shifted so that he could take in all of Remus' face at once.  
"Remus?" Concern deepened Sirius' voice. Remus' amber coloured eyes weren't sparkling with the warmth Sirius had come to expect. At that moment, they were dull and lifeless.  
"Tell me that I am more than just an option, Sirius."  
"Remus. Moony. You were never just an option to me. You were always everything."


	10. Angst

Sirius fell asleep easily. In Remus' lap as a dog, on the floor, curled up on a rug in front of the fire, in the most uncomfortable of armchairs, in Remus' bed. Sirius could fall asleep whilst flying. It scared Remus to death, the swiftness with which sleep could claim his Padfoot. It made Remus fear, irrationally, that if sleep could find Sirius wherever he go, then perhaps death was, at that moment, and at every moment that followed, right around the corner, just waiting for the opportune moment to snatch Sirius from Remus' life and leave him alone forevermore.


	11. Beach

It was James' idea to go to the beach. Sirius had never been, and they took delight in telling him fabricated stories about how the waves were taller than houses and the multicoloured sand could swallow you whole if you stood for too long in one spot. When they arrived, Sirius stood stock still on the rocks, unwilling to venture down to the shore.  
"The sand isn't multicoloured. The waves are small."  
"Yes," Remus said anxiously, lacing his fingers tightly with Sirius'.  
"You didn't tell me that it was beautiful." Remus took in Sirius' dreamy expression, and smiled.


	12. Payphone

"HELLO? IS-THIS-MY-FRIEND-REMUS-LUPIN?"  
"Sirius, you don't need to shout."  
"REMUS? IS THAT YOU?"  
"Who else?"  
"REMUS! I AM CALLING FROM A PAYFONE!"  
"You mean payphone."  
"THAT'S WHAT I SAID. ANYWAY, JAMES AND I WERE WONDERING, WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME TO JAMES' HOUSE NEXT WEEK?"  
Remus' breath hitched a little.  
"Really? You want me to come?" His voice was soft with insecurity.  
"OF-COURSE! MERLIN, REMUS, YOU-CAN-BE-A-BIT-DIM-SOMETIMES."  
Remus' eyes began to water a little bit. Mainly because his ears were painfully ringing, but also because he had never dared dream he would have friends as good as Sirius Black and James Potter.


	13. Lovebirds

"Look at those two lovebirds. Disgusting, isn't it?" Sirius sneered, slamming his butterbeer down onto the wooden table. Remus followed his line of sight to James and Lily. They were huddled up together in the corner of the Three Broomsticks and looking extremely cosy.  
"Be happy for him, Sirius. He was happy for you, remember?" Remus said quietly, turning back around in his seat to stare moodily down at his lap. He didn't like how shallow Sirius was behaving. And perhaps, on some level, he was also jealous. Sirius' beautiful features stayed frozen in a malicious glare Remus didn't see.


	14. Tattoo

He had seen it before, on muggles and on the braver of older, experienced wizards. Words, sometimes pictures, permanently inked onto their bodies. Tattoos, they were called. Sirius knew without quite understanding why that he wanted one. He got it in secret, from a man who specialised in wizard tattoos. Seeing the ten words on his skin had meant more to Sirius than anything else ever had before. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good. Four wide-eyed Gryffindors had made it up. It was now war and they were older, but they would still live by it.


	15. 11 11 11

Remus was just a bit superstitious. It was nothing, really, except he always had to get out of bed the same side he got in, he always had to cross his fingers when making a wish, and he, every once in a while, had to turn thrice on the spot. There were other small, insignificant things he believed, like that black cats were bringers of bad luck (cats altogether were evil, but black cats were the worst). On 11.11.11, at 11:11, Remus quietly made a wish for Sirius to come home, because wishes made exactly at that time came true.


	16. Grey Eyes

_Just a reminder that reviews are welcome. It only takes a minute to bring a smile to my face!_

Some people said that Sirius had grey eyes. That irritated Remus to no end. They wouldn't know, would they, because they always made their observations from too far away. Everyone had always been too scared to approach the boy who had a reputation for being bad. Remus knew, right from their very first meaning, that there was more to Sirius than his façade, and he was willing to find out exactly what lurked behind those silver eyes, thank you very much.


	17. Palindrome

"What's wrong, Sirius?" Remus inquires idly. He keeps his eyes riveted on his mug of tea, hardly seeming to be giving Sirius any real consideration. Inside he is unknowingly feeling the same injustice as Sirius is. Sirius continues pacing in the same frenzied way he has been for the last quarter of an hour, and Remus doesn't think he'll answer.  
"Dammit," Sirius swears. Remus' tea is stone cold.  
"Dammit, I'm mad!"  
"A palindrome." Remus sighs. A second later the mug smashes into the wall. Remus begins to tremble. Sirius is the violent one, not he, but it is so unfair.


	18. Ice Age

"Arrgh!" Sirius screamed, reacting so violently that his popcorn spilled to shower down on all four of them. Sirius cowered in his seat, his hands clasped firmly over his eyes, the mess of popcorn ignored. Remus tried to contain himself for appearances sake, but when he caught James' awestruck look, he couldn't help it. He giggled, and then he snorted. Before long tears were pouring down his face and he was in a most undignified position as his and Peter's bodies wracked with spasms of laughter. Ice Age was a movie for little children, but they kept that to themselves.


	19. Captured

Remus was an idiot. He was a fool. The man had sentenced two of his best friends to die and had murdered a third in broad daylight. The man, who Remus could not bring himself to name, had told unforgivable lies. And yet still, knowing all of that, Remus wished him no harm. They would have had him captured, as they should have. He would have been sent to Azkaban for life. And yet a part of Remus wished desperately that he had found a way to escape. A part of Remus still loved Sirius Black, and always irrevocably would.


	20. Ping Pong

"Do you think-" Remus begins.  
"Not really, but-" Peter answers his unspoken question.  
"…otherwise they'll keep bugging us. But they might-"  
"They're smarter than that-"  
"They're really not when it comes to these things."  
"Should we give them a shot-"  
"…anyway? I don't know. You don't like-"  
"The walls, the ceiling, the light bulb? Not really. As long as they-"  
"…don't completely damage-"  
"The car. Or even the-"  
"…the paddles, net and the table. I take it back. This is an-"  
"…extremely bad idea."  
"What is?" Sirius asks in interest.  
"We were going to teach you ping pong. But-"  
"Nevermind!"


	21. Paris

Dublin, Athens, Nicosia, Tirana, Brussels…  
"What's that?" Peter asks, peering over Remus' shoulder. Remus snatches the parchment up. His 'nothing' comes out harsher than he anticipated, but he doesn't trust this rat-like boy as far as he can throw him. Peter hangs out with James Potter and Sirius Black. If that didn't spell trouble than Remus didn't know what else did.  
"Oh." Peter shuffles backwards a bit, his expression crumpling. Remus reads over the list, adding Paris to the bottom. He nods to himself, satisfactorily.  
"Paris?" Peter asks, looking hopeful.  
"The last place in the world I want to go."


	22. Musician

Sirius had always wanted to be a musician. Ever since he was seven years old and working out that noise could be invigorating and interesting and could actually mean something beyond bangs and clashes. He still, years later when he was sixteen and being asked by a stern faced Professor McGonagall, wanted to be a musician. It was, like so many things were and are and will be, a secret, because Sirius thought he was childish and stupid for wanting to be something so decidedly muggle. One secret he still kept close to his heart and pretended Remus didn't know.


	23. Drunk

"Moony, stop. Moony, enough!" Sirius launched himself across the table to tear the bottle out of Remus' shaking hands.  
"You've had enough."  
"Have I?" Remus slurred, his eyelids droopy.  
"I don't think I have quite reached the lowest point one can go."  
"Moony, you are completely off your head! You are drunk!" Sirius hissed, venomously.  
"I don't understand why you are so devastated, Padfoot. You have seen me drunk before. I am semi-coherent, am I not? Therefore, you really have nought to worry about." Remus glared at the bottle in Sirius' hands.  
"I always worry."  
"No one asked you to."


	24. Diamonds

Sirius grew up with diamonds and riches beyond imagining; to have that taken away abruptly on the night he turned sixteen left him stark and lost. Remus couldn't afford, of course, to give Sirius any of the luxuries he had back, so Remus deigned to do something he never would have considered had it not been his Sirius. Remus stole from his mother. A week later he gave Sirius a diamond earring that had formally been a ring, a woman's wedding ring. Any guilt Remus felt melted away at the tears pooling in the corners of Sirius' eyes.


	25. Angel

"She is an angel," James said, barely watching as he spread marmalade over his apple, so intense his gaze was on Lily Evans.  
"Such lovely green eyes, such brilliant hair, such perfect skin… such feistiness…" He rubbed absentmindedly at a red handprint on his left cheek.  
Personally, Sirius didn't think Evans was that much to look at. Not compared to Remus Lupin. Remus Lupin made a far more beautiful angel than Evans, even with his breakable wrists and thin hips. Ignoring James, Sirius dreamed with longing of Moony's amber and honey eyes, soft lips, slender fingers and contagious white smile.


	26. I Hate You

"I hate you." They are not said or whispered or murmured or cried. They are not screamed or shouted or pronounced. They are sighed, as though the speaker of those three, loathe-filled words is reminding himself of his hatred. Remus snaps his head up. He freezes, listening carefully. Nothing else is said, and Remus wonders if he has misheard. But his hearing is excellent. Peter is staring intently at a conspiring James and Sirius with fervent eyes and Remus ponders for a millisecond. Remus decides he doesn't want to know. He determinedly concentrates on elsewhere, ignoring his instincts.


	27. Dear Harry

Dear Harry.

x

Dear Harry,

How are you?

x

Dear Harry,

My name is Remus Lupin. You may not have heard of me.

x

Dear Harry,

It's been a long time since I have seen you. The last time was when you were barely walking!

x

Dear Harry,

Happy Birthday! 10 years old is an extraordinary feat!  
The gift enclosed is small but I hope you like it.

You don't know me, Harry, but you once did. I was a very good friend of your father's.

x

Harry,

I am sorry I can't finish this letter.


	28. Different

Sirius was attempting to recite the sixteen ingredients used in the potion Amortentia, in a last resort bid to drown out the sound of his own traitorous thoughts. James, decidedly bored and sick of the silence and being ignored, had gone and plonked himself beside Sirius where he was sprawled on his bed.  
"Pads, good friend. Got your eye on any girl?"  
"No."  
"No? But Pads, why not?" And here was the moment of truth Sirius had been dreading for a while now.  
"I think I am…" James leaned forward, expectant.  
"… different." James was confused, but Sirius couldn't elaborate.


	29. Purple

His mouth opens and closes wordlessly.  
"Pur-ple. Purple." Sirius sounds breathless, as though he is being strangled. His eyes are transfixed on the mirror he holds in his unsteady hand.  
Surely the person reflected is not him? He can't believe it. He won't.  
Sirius gulps.  
"Sirius I- Oh, Merlin. Sirius, your hair! It's-"  
"Don't say it!"  
"Purple. What did you do?" If Remus sounded worried before, he certainly doesn't now. He resembles quite strongly a cat that has just caught a canary.  
"It was all James!" Sirius cries, forlorn. He catches Remus' raised eyebrow.  
"No, seriously, this time it was!"


	30. Resort

_A big thank you to __TechNomaNcer28__ for her lovely and constant reviews, and to those who are sending in their prompts _

It was their last resort, of that Sirius was sure. A rather drastic course, but if Remus was going to continually starve himself, then they had no choice.  
James cast the hex over Remus, Peter kept Remus covered with his wand, and Sirius frog-marched Remus into the Great Hall.  
"James, if you will." Remus' mouth popped open under James' command. Ignoring Remus' anger, Sirius picked up a spoonful of oatmeal and promptly deposited the contents into Remus' mouth.


	31. Constant

Constant had been the knowledge books could give. Constant had been a school day at Hogwarts. Constant had been the strength of their friendship, through thick and thin.  
Constant. A renowned word that lately had become so foreign a one.  
What is constant in their lives anymore?  
Sirius had optimistically asserted constant was their love. A more pessimistic James had professed that love was fickle. Constant was the flow of injured, he had declared.  
Depressively, Remus didn't think otherwise.  
Currently, no matter how often refuted, constant was the war. Constant was the death eaters, the blood spillage, he-who-must-not-be-named, and hatred.


	32. Delirious

Sirius made him delirious. He made him crazy with longing and pitiable need. The heady deliriousness hadn't vanquished after all those years apart; quite the opposite. Azkaban hadn't stripped Sirius of his ability to make Remus delirious: it had heightened his facility to the point where Remus found himself relentlessly found himself dizzy at the slightest contact, whether physical or intangible; a mere brush of fingers here, a meeting of eyes there. RemusandSiriusRemusandSirius. They were two planets spinning too fast in an orbit that never brought them close enough to truly collide in the spectacular way Remus could only envision.


	33. Paradise

James and Lily were flawlessly faultless in their perfectly perfect relationship. They were soul mates, with the kind of ideal, textbook relationship that everybody, Sirius and Remus included, lusted for. They had their perfect slice of Heaven with their perfectly adorable son. Sirius and Remus were, unlike James and Lily, damaged and broken. Alone, they were beyond repair. When they were together, however, Sirius and Remus were two puzzle pieces, albeit with serrated edges, that fit snugly. In each other they had the paradise most went their entire lives without unearthing, if only they remembered that.

This could be  
Para-para-paradise


	34. Daddy

"I don't know if I can do this."  
The words were spoken in such a hushed undertone Remus wasn't sure he should have heard them.  
"James?"  
"Daddy. Dad. Father. Moony, I am not cut out to be a dad! I'll drop him on his head!" James looked not unlike a deer caught in headlights. Remus reached out instinctively for his friend's shoulder.  
"Prongs. You are the best man I know. You will work it out. If you don't, let it be known that I believe Lily to be absolutely capable." Remus said earnestly, and James let out a shaky laugh.


	35. Binoculars

"I can't SEE anything! I hate being on the sidelines!"  
"Maybe you'll consider that the next time you try to stand up on your broomstick while no less than two hundred metres in the air."  
"Moony- wait. What just happened?"  
"What you really need is a pair of binoculars…" Remus snorts at the mental image.  
XXX  
"Sirius, you look like an-"  
"SOD OFF, James! You're just jealous because YOU didn't see Malfoy being whacked in the head with a bludger!" Sirius may look ridiculous with the bloody binoculars, but James is feeling just a tad jealous.


	36. Dashing

Sirius was a dashing prince. Remus was a monster.  
Sirius and Remus did not belong together.  
I could kill you, Remus reminded Sirius constantly. I could kill everybody. I am a monster monster monster. You should love someone who is not damned.  
Sirius always replied with a kiss. You lie, he said. You could never kill anybody, even when werewolf. You are too good for that.  
Sirius held Remus together when his lover was crushing himself under doubt and shame.  
Don't fall asunder to misgivings, Sirius murmured into Remus' ear between sweet nothings.  
You owe yourself more than that.


	37. Action

Bellatrix sticks her foot out, and an unknowing Peter trips straight over it.  
"Pathetic little Pettigrew," sneers the Slytherin, gleefully. The Slytherin kicks Peter and he slumps forwards.  
Sirius' laughter cuts off abruptly when he sees his friend at the mercy of his twisted cousin.  
"Leave him alone, Bella," Sirius snarls, whipping out his wand. Bellatrix cackles.  
"Going to take me on, Sirius?"  
Remus decided to back Sirius up, for Peter's sake.  
He saddles up beside a shocked Sirius.  
"Loopy Lupin." Bella laughs. Remus is unmoved.  
"Ready, Sirius?" says Remus, drawing his wand.  
The first-years spring to action.


	38. Lounge

Sirius is lounging in a way that still manages to make him look graceful and heartbreakingly beautiful. James is lounging in a way that's more of a slump; Remus has just curled up. Peter has sprawled himself out, as per usual, on the floor because between Remus and Sirius on the couch, there is no room for him.  
Remus has white bandages winding up his arms; Sirius' wrist is in a sling. Both James and Peter's faces are spectacularly scratched.  
It's not odd to see the Marauders lounge, but today the lounging Marauders are receiving strange looks.


	39. Never

"Oi! Prongs!" Sure enough, Sirius, Remus and Peter have appeared out of nowhere to flank James.  
"Pads, good friend. We were just talking about you!" Lily huffs.  
"We were not, Potter. And what in Merlin's name is with the stupid nicknames you have for each other?" There is genuine curiosity in Lily's voice, even though the question was posed harshly.  
James immediately looks torn. He can't betray his best friends. He can't lie to his one true love. Before he has to decide, however, Sirius answers for him.  
"I guess you'll never know will you, Evans?" Lily folds her arms.


	40. Death Eater

Sirius would do anything to protect his little brother Reggie. He sacrificed himself, again and again, for Regulas, always placing himself directly in harm's way so that Regulas could escape pain. When the time came for Sirius to go to Hogwarts, he hadn't wanted to, not if he couldn't bring his brother with him. Sirius' young self had known subconsciously that bad things would happen to Reggie if he wasn't present. This inkling of a feeling was proved more substantial when Sirius received the letter detailing his little brother's ascension in Lord Voldemort's ranks. Regulas had become a death eater.


	41. Frog

"You tried to turn Peter into a FROG?!"  
"HAhaha..." Sirius' laughter piddles out at Remus' glare.  
"um, well. Not _exactly_..." Sirius scratches his head, and Remus' eyes widen.  
"He's FINE! He just can't stop-"  
"Ribbit." Peter interrupts.  
"Shut up, Peter!"  
"Sirius! Reverse this immediately! What spell-"  
"Oh, you know-"  
"Remus! Didn't you want to go to the library?"  
"What- oh, James, no-"  
"I'll escort you!" James pulls a speechless Remus forcibly away, and happily continues to chatter on.  
"Ribbit!"  
Sirius sighs heavily.  
Trying to turn animagi is a lot harder than Professor McGonagall makes it look.


	42. Girlish

Remus had his head buried in a book and wasn't much aware of anything beyond the flowery script he was devouring with his eyes. Not too far away, Severus Snape was running his finger over the spines of books about sleeping draughts. If Snape wasn't so absorbed, he might have noticed the hardly steady bucket hanging in the air above his head. He might have heard Remus' warning; he might not have let out such a girlish scream as treacle was poured over his head. Remus, typically, went to Snape's aid. Sirius and James ran for their lives, fearing wrath.


	43. United we stand divided we fall

This meeting is different from the others.  
There had been four in total, spread out over five months. The Order members were all young; five months ago they had been fresh out of school and full of ideas and dreams and morals. They had been new to war and death and loss; they hadn't been able to comprehend that life wasn't _forever_.  
Back then they hadn't known just how innocent and naïve they really were.  
Dumbledore's speech comes to a melancholy end.  
"United we stand; divided we fall."  
Yes, things have changed, if suddenly Albus Dumbledore is grave and warning.


End file.
